Intimate zoo eye on a real shy guy

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Zoo keeper Adrian Mifsud and Millsom the platypus in the new
platypus enclosure at Healesville Sanctuary.Photo: Sandy Scheltema

The breeding habits of shy platypuses will be exposed in a new
Big Brother-style enclosure that opened at Healesville Sanctuary
yesterday.

The $750,000 platypusary - shaped like a golden egg to symbolise
fertility - will have three cameras to monitor the animal's
behaviour.

"The 24-hour surveillance will teach us a lot about their
intimate behaviour," zoo keeper Adrian Mifsud said.

Mr Mifsud said he hoped that a no-go zone for "boys" and the
dark tunnel network would provide the perfect environment for
breeding.

A female is being flown in from Tooronga Zoo in Sydney to mate
with a locally born male next month.

"If the two mate successfully, it will be the first time two
platypus(es) raised in captivity will reproduce in captivity
themselves," he said.

While the animal is a common species, Mr Mifsud said the
enclosure was built to provide insight into a rarely seen
creature.

"Being one of the only two monotremes alive - a mammal that lays
eggs - very little is known about them," he said. Filled with
thousands of colourful marbles that feel like pebbles in a creek or
river bed, the enclosure aims to attract inquisitive visitors and
satisfy the animals' needs to breed.

"The colours, structure and interactive elements are designed to
appeal to the young at heart," Zoos Victoria chief executive Laura
Mumaw said.

Digging mounds, feeding tanks and sleeping and nesting chambers
are also on display.

But a careful balance between satisfying the needs of visitors
and the platypuses had to be found, Mr Mifsud said.

"The rapids were produced for the animal to enjoy, but also to
take their focus away from what's happening outside of the
enclosure," he said.

"If they come out during the day, there will be enough internal
noise for them to take their focus off the people."

Environment Minister John Thwaites and BHP Billiton chairman Don
Argus opened the enclosure as part of their Waterways Community
Conservation Project.

"The platypus is the ideal champion of this project," Mr
Thwaites said. "It's an iconic Australian animal that depends on
waterways for its survival, just as we do."